Anastasiades: unfair solution destined to fail

Cyprus President ready to work for a solution but favours friendly neighbours, not armies

Cyprus President says he is ready to work for a solution but favours friendly neighbours, not armies

Newsroom

20 JULY 2018 - 09:00

President Nicos Anastasiades is sending a message to Ankara and the Turkish Cypriot leadership that a Cyprus solution shouldn’t fail to undo past injustices.

Anastasiades, who spoke at a public event Thursday evening, said he wanted to send a message to Turkey and the Turkish Cypriot leadership that he was in favour of a solution to the Cyprus problem as long as a settlement would not perpetuate “traces of injustice” left over from the London-Zurich agreements.

“An agreement based on injustice is destined to fail,” the president said.

Expectations for viable solution not up for negotiation

Anastasiades also said that the grievances of the Greek Cypriots, including their expectations in a viable solution, are not up for negotiation, adding that he is ready to work towards a just solution.

“What I want to send out as a message is that everything we have stood for and continue to stand for, in order to achieve a viable and functional solution through the creation of a normal state, is something that is not up for debate and it is not negotiable,” the president added.

Anastasiades reiterated his message against military guarantees, citing friendly relations with neighbouring countries.

“We do not want military presence because we are not under threat from anyone, because we are friends with all our neighbours, and because we have cultivated strong bonds like never before,” Anastasiasdes said.